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发表于 2016-7-10 10:14:51
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immoral *
adj. 不道德的
e.g. It's immoral to cheat someone out of their money.
intelligent *
adj. having the ability to think, understand, and learn things quickly and well 聪明的，有智慧的
e.g. She is a very bright and intelligent woman who knows her own mind.
jeopardize *
v. cause something to be in danger of being harmed or damaged 危及，损害
e.g. She knew that by failing her exams she would jeopardize her whole future.
locate *
v. find or discover the position of something 探明，找出
e.g. I'm sorry but we can't locate your order form at the moment.
lovable *
adj. friendly and attractive 可爱的
e.g. She's a very lovable person.
Lt. = lieutenant
n. (美国海军) 上尉
mammal
n. 哺乳动物
military *
n. 军方
e.g. Did you serve in the military?
naval *
adj. 海军的
e.g. a naval officer/museum/battle
nuclear *
adj. 核子的，核武器的
e.g. a nuclear war/a nuclear attack/nuclear disarmament (核裁军)
playful *
adj. not intended in a serious way 顽皮的
e.g. He was in a playful mood.
progressive *
adj. 进步的
e.g. The children went to progressive schools (实行进步教育法的学校).
series *
n. (单复数同) a number of things or events that come one after another 系列
e.g. He wrote a series of articles devoted to modern farming methods.
sonar
n. 声纳
spokesman *
n. 发言人
submarine *
n. 潜水艇
watchdog
n. 监视者
weapon *
n. an object such as a gun, a knife, or a missile, which is used to kill or hurt people in a fight or a war 武器
welfare *
n. 福利
Animals on the Job
Animals not only make good pets, they sometimes make perfect workers—if they have the right traits and training.
Every morning, Allie wakes up and accompanies her friend to the washroom. She turns on the light, soaps up a washcloth, and begins cleaning her friend's face. Is Allie an extremely devoted companion? Yes! Allie is a capuchin monkey who helps her disabled friend perform everyday tasks.
Monkeys like Allie are just one of many kinds of animals that help improve—or even save—human lives. But not all animals are suited to do every job. Certain animals are "hired" for specific jobs based on their traits, or characteristics. By using different methods of conditioning (training animals to act in a particular way in response to a stimulus, or signal), humans can teach animals to perform extraordinary tasks.
Throughout history, humans have relied on animals' traits to get certain jobs done. For example, compared with humans, dogs are "far superior at tracking down odors," says Marian Bailey, an animal behaviorist at Henderson State University in Arkansas. That's because dogs have millions of olfactory receptors, or smell nerves, in their noses.
For that reason, hunters used dogs to track down prey even in ancient Egypt. Today, dogs may be employed to sniff out illegal substances in school lockers or earthquake victims buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building or highway.
Primates may not be good sniffers, but they can certainly lend a helping hand—or two. Monkeys are perfect helpmates for quadriplegics, people paralyzed from the neck down who are unable to use their own hands (and legs). Like humans, explains Bailey, monkeys have opposable thumbs—thumbs that face the hand's other fingers—so monkeys can pick up objects. Capuchins learn to open doors, clean up spills, and unscrew bottle tops. They can even get a sandwich out of the refrigerator and load your favorite tape into the VCR[1].
And speaking of VCRs, animals are even helping scientists make a videotape. Jennifer Hurley, an animal researcher at the Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz, California, is training two sea lions to carry video cameras on their backs to record the natural behavior of whales.
Hurley could never dive to the depths at which whales swim, she says. But sea lions can. And whales behave naturally around sea lions because these mammals are part of the whales' natural environment—unlike humans or submarinelike research boats.
So how do you get an animal employee to do its job? The answer: career-training. Trainers teach the animals to obey their instructions through a process called conditioning.
Most trainers condition animals by using positive reinforcement[2], rewarding an animal for doing something correctly, says animal behaviorist Bailey. For example, trainers teach their dogs how to sniff out drugs by hiding a towel with the smell of drugs. "Dogs love to retrieve objects so the towel becomes a reward," says Morris Berkowitz, who heads up a canine drug-sniffing program in New York.
After repeating this game of hide-and-seek[3] many times, the dog begins to "associate the odor with a reward," says Berkowitz. When he gives the command, or stimulus, the dog seeks out drugs. (It's like learning to study hard for a test in order to get a good grade as a reward.)
At "Helping Hands—Monkey Helpers for the Disabled," capuchin monkeys are trained twice before being teamed with a disabled human. First, monkeys are placed with a foster family to become socialized to people. For five years, families help the monkeys adapt to a human environment, so the monkeys will trust and enjoy being around people.
Taking the monkeys in when they're four to six weeks old is important, says Bailey. "That's when monkeys normally become socialized to other monkeys," she says.
Second, trainers at Helping Hands train the monkeys to perform specific tasks to assist a particular person. For example, a monkey may be trained to scratch an itch, or slip a floppy disc into a computer drive. Trainers reward the monkeys by using positive reinforcement, such as food, drink, praise, and affection. This phase of training can take a year. (686 words)
Phrases and Expressions
armed with
provided with
e.g. I ) The suspect is armed with a shotgun.
II) She came to the meeting armed with all the facts and figures to prove us wrong.
set off
cause something to start happening
e.g. Reports that a doctor had died from AIDS (艾滋病) set off a panic among his former patients.
stand by
keep a promise, agreement, etc. or declare something is still true 坚持，遵守
e.g. I stand by what I said earlier.
stem from
develop or grow from 起源于
e.g. Her problems stem from her difficult childhood.
take someone to court 把......告上法庭
e.g. She's threatening to take me to court for not paying the bill on time.
PASSAGE II Animals on the Job
Proper Names
Allie
艾莉(文中为猴名)
Arkansas
(地名)阿肯色州(美国州名)
Henderson State University
汉得森州立大学(阿肯色州)
Jennifer Hurley
(女子名)詹妮弗.赫莉
Marian Bailey
(女子名)玛丽安.贝利
Morris Berkowitz
(男子名)莫里斯.伯克威兹
Santa Cruz
(地名)圣克鲁斯(美国加利福尼亚州西部城市)
New Words
adapt *
v. make or become suitable 使适应，使适合
e.g. The world will be different, and we will have to be prepared to adapt to the change.
assist *
v. help someone to do something 帮助，协助
e.g. You will be expected to assist the editor with the selection of illustrations (插图) for the dictionary.
behaviorist
n. 行为科学家
beneath *
prep.under 在......下面
e.g. She found pleasure in sitting beneath the trees.
canine
adj. & n. 犬(的)
capuchin
n. 僧帽猴
collapse *
v. fall down suddenly 倒塌
e.g. Thousands of buildings collapsed in the earthquake.
collapsed
adj. 倒塌的
command *
n. an order that should be obeyed 命令
e.g. Since he was the head of the family, his wish was a command.
conditioning
n. 训练，条件反射作用
disc
n. 磁盘
earthquake *
n. 地震
floppy
adj. soft and often hanging loosely downwards 松软的
floppy disc
软盘
helpmate
n. 助手，帮手
highway *
n. 公路
itch
n. 痒
locker
n. 可锁的衣物柜
nerve *
n. 神经
olfactory
adj. connected with the sense of smell 嗅觉的
opposable
adj. 可相对的，与其他手指相对的
paralyzed *
adj. 瘫痪的
phase *
n. a part of a process of development or growth 阶段，时期
e.g. This autumn, 6,000 residents will participate in the first phase of the project.
primate
n. 灵长目动物
quadriplegic
n. 四肢瘫痪者
reinforcement *
n. 强化
retrieve *
v. (formal) find something and bring it back 取回，收回
reward *
v. & n. 奖励
e.g. I ) All his hard work was rewarded when he saw his book in print.
II) My mother used to give me chocolate as a reward when I was good.
rubble
n. 碎石，碎砖
sniffer
n. 嗅探者，嗅探器
socialized
adj. 社交化的
stimulus *
n. (plural stimuli) 刺激物
e.g. It is through our nervous system that we adapt ourselves to our environment and to all external stimuli.
superior *
adj. better, more powerful, more effective. etc. 较好的，优良的
e.g. It makes her very angry when he says that men are intrinsically (本质上地) superior to women.
thumb *
n. 拇指
towel
n. 毛巾
trait *
n. (formal) a particular quality in someone's character 特征，特性
unscrew *
v. 拧开
video *
adj. 录像的，录影的
video camera
摄像机
videotape
n. 录像带
washcloth *
n. 浴巾
washroom *
n. 盥洗室，厕所
whale
n. 鲸鱼
Animals on the Job
Animals not only make good pets, they sometimes make perfect workers—if they have the right traits and training.
Every morning, Allie wakes up and accompanies her friend to the washroom. She turns on the light, soaps up a washcloth, and begins cleaning her friend's face. Is Allie an extremely devoted companion? Yes! Allie is a capuchin monkey who helps her disabled friend perform everyday tasks.
Monkeys like Allie are just one of many kinds of animals that help improve—or even save—human lives. But not all animals are suited to do every job. Certain animals are "hired" for specific jobs based on their traits, or characteristics. By using different methods of conditioning (training animals to act in a particular way in response to a stimulus, or signal), humans can teach animals to perform extraordinary tasks.
Throughout history, humans have relied on animals' traits to get certain jobs done. For example, compared with humans, dogs are "far superior at tracking down odors," says Marian Bailey, an animal behaviorist at Henderson State University in Arkansas. That's because dogs have millions of olfactory receptors, or smell nerves, in their noses.
For that reason, hunters used dogs to track down prey even in ancient Egypt. Today, dogs may be employed to sniff out illegal substances in school lockers or earthquake victims buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building or highway.
Primates may not be good sniffers, but they can certainly lend a helping hand—or two. Monkeys are perfect helpmates for quadriplegics, people paralyzed from the neck down who are unable to use their own hands (and legs). Like humans, explains Bailey, monkeys have opposable thumbs—thumbs that face the hand's other fingers—so monkeys can pick up objects. Capuchins learn to open doors, clean up spills, and unscrew bottle tops. They can even get a sandwich out of the refrigerator and load your favorite tape into the VCR[1].
And speaking of VCRs, animals are even helping scientists make a videotape. Jennifer Hurley, an animal researcher at the Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz, California, is training two sea lions to carry video cameras on their backs to record the natural behavior of whales.
Hurley could never dive to the depths at which whales swim, she says. But sea lions can. And whales behave naturally around sea lions because these mammals are part of the whales' natural environment—unlike humans or submarinelike research boats.
So how do you get an animal employee to do its job? The answer: career-training. Trainers teach the animals to obey their instructions through a process called conditioning.
Most trainers condition animals by using positive reinforcement[2], rewarding an animal for doing something correctly, says animal behaviorist Bailey. For example, trainers teach their dogs how to sniff out drugs by hiding a towel with the smell of drugs. "Dogs love to retrieve objects so the towel becomes a reward," says Morris Berkowitz, who heads up a canine drug-sniffing program in New York.
After repeating this game of hide-and-seek[3] many times, the dog begins to "associate the odor with a reward," says Berkowitz. When he gives the command, or stimulus, the dog seeks out drugs. (It's like learning to study hard for a test in order to get a good grade as a reward.)
At "Helping Hands—Monkey Helpers for the Disabled," capuchin monkeys are trained twice before being teamed with a disabled human. First, monkeys are placed with a foster family to become socialized to people. For five years, families help the monkeys adapt to a human environment, so the monkeys will trust and enjoy being around people.
Taking the monkeys in when they're four to six weeks old is important, says Bailey. "That's when monkeys normally become socialized to other monkeys," she says.
Second, trainers at Helping Hands train the monkeys to perform specific tasks to assist a particular person. For example, a monkey may be trained to scratch an itch, or slip a floppy disc into a computer drive. Trainers reward the monkeys by using positive reinforcement, such as food, drink, praise, and affection. This phase of training can take a year. (686 words)
Phrases and Expressions
adapt to
change something or someone to suit different conditions or uses
e.g. The good thing about children is that they adapt very easily to a new environment.
based on 以......为基础
e.g. The figures are based on average market prices.
head up
be in charge of a government, organization or group of people
e.g. He was chosen to head up the team investigating the situation.
in response to 作为反应
e.g. In response to your inquiries, we regret to inform you that we cannot help you in this matter.
lend... a (helping) hand
help
e.g. I'd be glad to lend a helping hand.
seek out
keep looking for someone or something until you find them 找出
e.g. Now is the time for local companies to seek out business opportunities in Europe.
sniff out
find something (as if) by smelling
e.g. I ) A police dog, trained to sniff out explosives (炸药), found evidence of a bomb in the apartment.
II) Her job is to go around the big fashion shows sniffing out talent for a modeling agency (模特代理公司).
speaking of 说到
e.g. Well, speaking of vegetables, do you want more carrots?
take... in 接纳，吸收
e.g. The new town takes in three former villages.
track down
find someone or something that is difficult to find 找到，捕获
e.g. I finally managed to track down the book you wanted in a shop near the station. |
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